Chuck Swanson, Executive Director of Hancher is in the studio to discuss the newly announced 2019-20 schedule of upcoming performances at Hancher! We get an inside look at what to expect from their upcoming season, what we can expect from Hancher in the future and a glimpse into the process Hancher goes through to select their performances!
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KHAK - Thursday, May 9, 2019
Hancher Auditorium announced it's lineup for the 2019-2020 season on Wednesday and it includes well-known signers and big names from the world of Broadway too!
In honor of her 75th birthday, the legendary Diana Ross will be visiting Iowa City. The Grammy-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will also visit Hancher this season. And the most in-demand string quartet today, The Danish String Quartet will also perform. There are also numerous performances from dance groups scheduled for this season too.
Little Village - Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Hancher announced today the lineup for its 2019-20 season, and it’s a thrilling one. The voices of some amazing women anchor the offerings, including singers, ensembles, poets, comedians and plays by and about women. The season also includes the inaugural events of Hancher’s new Kids Club series for young audiences.
The season begins earlier than usual this year with a concert by legendary performer Diana Ross on July 19. Ross is touring in celebration of her 75th birthday, which was on March 26. The singer has a storied career, both solo and with her long-time group the Supremes, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Iowa Now - Wednesday, May 8, 2019
The 2019–20 season for the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium will get off to an early start with a rare summer concert featuring a Motown legend. The season also will extend beyond its usual date to end with an August 2020 festival along the Iowa River. In between, Hancher will present the diverse collection of world-class artists for which it is known.
The legendary Diana Ross, on tour in celebration of her 75th birthday, will open the Hancher season on Friday, July 19. An icon of American music, Ross will perform songs dating back to her breakthrough with the Supremes and from throughout her impressive solo career.
Iowa City Press-Citizen - Tuesday, April 23, 2019
As we left Hancher Auditorium after the thrilling dance performance of "Venezuela" on April 12, we wondered what was it all about? The Venezuelan culture, dance, or its current national crisis? Did we miss something? Was the show too mystifying to be comprehended? Or was it simply a pure dance performance of innovative technique and captivating athleticism?
The Gazette - Monday, April 8, 2019
IOWA CITY — American Ballet Theatre treated Hancher audiences to the most delectable pairing of artistry and excellence Saturday afternoon and evening with “Whipped Cream.”
This sight and sound dreamscape, penned by Richard Strauss in the early 1920s, folded 29 locals dressed as cupcakes, petit fours and more, along with Orchestra Iowa’s magnificent musicians, into the mix with professional dancers of the highest caliber. It’s the venerable troupe helmed by Mikhail Baryshnikov in the 1980s and now home to principal dancer extraordinaire Misty Copeland.
And no, Copeland wasn’t in this touring production, but ABT soloist Cassandra Trenary danced the lead role of Princess Praline fluidly and flawlessly during Saturday’s matinee, as did principal dancer Devon Teuscher, appearing as Princess Tea Flower. (Soloist Luciana Paris made her debut as Princess Praline in the evening performance.)
The Daily Iowan - Friday, April 5, 2019
With splashes of white paint speckling her jeans and a floral bandana holding back her short brown hair, artist Luisa Caldwell looked like artwork herself as she posed for pictures with her two art installations hung in Hancher on Wednesday.
The University of Iowa alum, art-history graduate, and New York resident returned to her alma mater to display two of her pieces, Curtain Call and Folly, in conjunction with the American Ballet Theater’s performances of Whipped Cream at Hancher on Saturday.
Each sculpture is made entirely out of candy wrappers, thread, and satin ribbon — items that Hancher Executive Director Chuck Swanson said perfectly highlight the upcoming ballet’s theme of sugar and sweets.
The Gazette - Thursday, April 4, 2019
Children will see a magical world of colorful confections dancing across the Hancher stage Saturday (4/6) afternoon and evening.
Adults, however, will see through those layers into a more sinister filling as the action leaps through a story re-imagined from “Schlagobers” (“Whipped Cream”), a full-length ballet Richard Strauss penned in the early 1920s.
It’s the story of a young boy and his friends, who go to a confectioner’s shop after celebrating their first communion. The Boy becomes ill after eating more than his fill of his favorite sweet: whipped cream.
After the children leave, the sweets spring to life in the shop, and the scene fades into the Boy’s whipped cream fantasy world. He awakens, however, in a sinister hospital room, tended by a doctor and his army of nurses. While they are away, Princess Praline arrives with her own procession to rescue the boy and whisk him off to her kingdom.
The Daily Iowan - Wednesday, April 3, 2019
After his first communion, a little boy is given sweets and pastries to celebrate the coming-of-age landmark. Following his indulgence of whipped cream, the boy becomes ill and descends into a dreamland-like state in which he believes the doctor and nurses treating him are villains.
Presented by the American Ballet Theater, Whipped Cream will leap onto the Hancher stage on Saturday at 1 and 6:30 p.m.
Whipped Cream is conceived as a theatrical side to ballet, with acting and intricate dancing being balanced by the dancers.
“It’s on pointe, classical ballet,” said Kevin McKenzie, the artistic director of American Ballet. “But there’s character built into the steps for a specific reason. It highlights why we have the word, ‘theater’ in our title.”
The Daily Iowan - Sunday, March 31, 2019
One bass, one guitar, three lovely voices, and a banjo: This is how to put on a lovely, intimate, Saturday night show. Only Canadian banjo player Kaia Kater could pull this off with such grace.
Performing with bass player Andrew Ryan and guitarist Daniel Rougeau, Kater lit up Hancher’s Strauss Hall on March 30. She put on two performances, at 6:30 and 9 p.m., and though they were fairly short at a little over an hour each, each was memorable.